Testing-plug for plumbers&#39; use.



No. www. PATENTE) sEPT.22,19o3.

K T, s, CLIFFORD. TESTING PLUG Ton PLUMBERS USE. AEPLIGATION FILED PEB. 25, 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 22, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS d oLIEEoEnOEIIoBoKEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOE rro eAEEET'r E. ROSE, Yor NEW YORK, N. Y., AND THOMAS e. CLIFFORD, JE., OE

HOBOKEN, NEW' JERSEY.

TESTING-PLUG FOR PLUMBERS USE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,589, dated September 22, 1903.

Application led February 1903. Serial No. 144,963. '(No model.)

To alt whom it may concern:

Beitknown that I, THOMAS G. CLIFFORD, a A citizen of the United States, residing in Hoboken, in the county of Hudson, in the State of 5 New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Y Testing- Plugs for Plumbers Use, of which the following is a specification.

It is common in the construction of the 1o plumbing Work-in a building to complete Ithe cast-iron portion which involves the main upright pipe and the several branches and before connecting the lead pipes, faucets, dto., to test the ltightness of the cast-iron parts. r 5 This is done by subjecting the cast-iron parts to a pressure of condensed air induced by a suitable compressing-pump. All the openings, except that where the air is introduced, require to be plugged tightly for the time bezo ing. It is important to allow any one of the plugs selected at random or otherwise to be used for introducing the air to provide for making a tight joint around in the one where the pump is used and also for easily and com- 2 5 pletely freeing the openin gs again by the complete removal of the plugs when the test is completed. l

I have devised a construction of testingplug which is peculiarly sim ple, makes a tight 3o joint at the end of the pipe, and reaches in a sufficient distance and takes hold reliably on the smooth interior of the pipe.. Y I provide a sufficient length to reach down beyond the hub, so that it may be used on the ordinary 'ends Where hubs are presented; but it may be also used with success on an end Where there is no hub. The grip on the interior is obtained by a wedging action. The Wedge acts on a short length of rubber tube, making available the highly frictional qualities of that material. The wedge may be drawn up by turning a thumb-nut running on a threaded surface of a small central tube, which tube serves as a rod to communicate the tension to the wedge-piece and also as a tube through which the. air may be introduced when the testing apparatus is connected. The ends in the system other than the one through which the air is pumped are stopped by screw-caps. 5o The releasing is effected by simply slackeuing the thumb-nut and driving down the tube, thus releasing the wedge, which should be made with so much taper as to let go easily.

f The following is a description of what I consider the best means of carrying out the in- Vention.

The accompanying drawings form a part ot' this specification.

Figure 1 is a general side elevation of the plug with a cross-section of the pipe in which it is applied. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section through a portion on a larger scale, the section being on the line 2 2 in Fig. 4. Fig. 3 is a corresponding section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 4isa cross-section on the line 44 65 in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a central vertical section showing a modification.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures Where they appear.

A is a pipe, and A the h'ub on the end thereof. It may be understood to be-the upper end of the main pipe, which extends vertically through the Whole depth of the building; but all the parts would serve equally Well, except that the vdevice should be inclined if it were attached to aninclined branch, of which there is one or more at every lloor.v

B is a stout disk of wood or other suitable material adapted to bear considerable strain. 8c b is a hole therein, and h a rabbet around such hole.

C is a gasket of rubber applying under the whole lowerface of the diskfrom the periphery inward to the rabbet. Vlfhen the device is in use, this disk and gasket apply tightly and are held down forcibly on the smooth upper end of the hub A'.

D is a tube screw-threaded for a considerable length at each end and extending loosely up and down through the hole h. .On its upper part is a sufficiently-stout washer E, above which applies a stout thumb-nut F. Between the Washer E and the'upper face of the disk Bis a rubber washer G,which when compressed 95 by the action on the nut makes a tight contact around the tube D. On the threaded lower part of this tube D are applied two nuts D' D2, and embraced between them is a piece M. It is a tapering partial plug, large end downward, r oo serving as a wedge, and I will refer to it as a wedge-piece. Two portions of its periphery are parts of a frustum of a cone. Two other considerable surfaces opposite to each other are flattened, as indicated by fm fm. A substantial tube I, of soft vulcanized rubber, is fitted on .this wedge-piece. I have in my experiments used such material with fabric therein-a short length of thick rubber hose. 'lhe upper end of this rubber tube projects considerably above the nut D', while its lower end matches upon and is distended as required by the forcible raising of the tapering wedge-piece M within it.

I-I is a block of wood or other suitable material loosely inclosing the tube D. Its upper end is properly formed to engage in the rabbet b and make a tight joint there. Its lower end forms a fair surface to press strongly against the upper edge of the rubber tube I. A rabbet h, formed on this lower end, contributes to prevent any lateral displacement.

The rubber I should be of such width as to extend above the tapering plug M and the nut D sufiiciently to allow considerable movements of these partsup and down relatively to each other.

When the parts are slackened, they may be applied by introducing the rod D and its attach ments within the pipe A; but they should be so proportioned that there will not be much room to spare. When all are in position, the thumb-nut F is turned, drawing upward the tube D, and consequently the wedge-piece M,

and distending the lower end of the rubber.

The dat sides mm allow the tube to d raw into a corresponding fiat form at each side against those surfaces, and there is no tight contact between the rubber and the inner surfaces of the pipe A against those points; but the rounded parts of the wedge-piece bear firmly and forcibly against the rubber which is between them and the adjacent portions of the interior of the pipe and it Wedges fast. My experiments indicate that the testing pressure may be much in excess of the six hundred pounds per 'square inch ordinarily required, and the force will be eectually resisted by the wedging contact thus induced in the interior of the pipe. If the wedge-piece were cylindrical, it would distend equally all around, and the invent-ion may be used with some success in such form; but it is important to let the compressed air flow upward and fill the whole space in the pipe and hub clear to the top, as there may be imperfections in the casting in the upper part which would not be discovered except by the extension of the test to the end of each. j

The individualfplug which is selected to receive the connection for the testing apparatus, the pump, gage, dac., (not shown,) is attached by screwing upon the upper end of the small pipe D thereof. A tight joint may be made in any ordinary manner, as by smearing with red lead at each use. The other test'- ing-plugs in this set which do not receive the vsasse testing apparatus and are simply required to maintain the tightness of the joint eachhave the upper end of the tube D closed by a cap D5.

It will be understood that although I have called the nut a thumb-nut it is stout and may receive a lever for turning it with great force to insure tightness ofthe fit. Such lever may be alsoim portant in releasing the nut when it has been screwed up with great force to insure a tight joint.

To conplete the liberation of the plug, the nut is unscrewed to a considerable distancen say an inch or more-and then a blow of the hand with or without the i'nterposition of something, as a piece of board, sends the rod D and the attached wedge-piece M downward sufficiently and the rubber tube I contracts again and the parts may be lifted with perfect ease.

Modifications may be made Without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

Additions may be made. Instead of the thumb-nut shown there maybe other devices, as a hand-wheel, adapted to allow the easy application of more force. The soft-rubber washer G under the iron washer E is mainly useful in insuring an air-tight joint around the pipe D. If the rubber C below the disk B is sufficiently thick and close-fitting, this rubber G above may be omitted.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5 holes m# are bored through the wedge-piece M# and holes h# are produced in the block H#, which allow the compressed air to flow. through and lill and test the pipe quite to the end Without requiring that the wedge-piece have the flat places m, which are in the form first de' scribed. There are liable to be blow-holes in the casting, and it is important to test not only the main parts of the several pipes in the building, but also the ends of the several branches. To do this the compressed air must be allowed to flow past the wedge-piece. In the form shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4 the compressed air flows along the flat places at the sides; but that form of the wedge-piece concentrates the strong distending action at two points in the interior of the pipe. It is better to allow the wedge-piece to bemade without the flat places-a complete truncated cone. The apertures shown in the wedgepiece and in the block in Fig. 5 allow of this. It may be understood that in this modification the wedge-piece distends the elastic rubber tube equally in all directions, so that the strain on the interior of the pipe is equal all around. This construction is preferable with large and thin pipes; but with ordinary pipes the flat-sided wedge-piece is preferable.

I claim as my invention- A 1. A testing-plug comprising a disk B having a soft face C and a hole b, in combination with a screw-threaded tube D and a nut F matching thereon, and with a wedge-piece M adapted to be introduced and apply loosely IOO IIO

Within a pipe end, and frietional material vI adapted to be stronglydistended by the wedgepiece, all arranged to serve substantially as herein specified.

2. A testing-plug comprising a disk B having a soft face C and a hole h, in'eombin'ationb with a screw-threaded tube D and a nut F matching thereon, and with a wedge-piece ll/I adapted to apply loosely within a pipe end, and liexible material I in tubular form embracing such wedge-piece, and means as the nuts D and D2 for allowing the wedge-piece to be shifted axially in either direction by force applied to the tube D, all substantially as herein specified.

3. A testing-plug 'comprising a disk B hav-Y ing a soft face c and hole b, in combination with a screw-threaded tube D and a nut F matching thereon, and with a wedge-piece M adapted to applyjloosely within a pipe end A A', and iexible material I in tubular form embracing such wedge-piece, and means as nuts D' and D2 for allowing the wedge-piece to be shifted axially in either direction by 'foree'applied to the tube D and having pro- THOMAS G. CLIFFORD.:

Vitnesses: Y

lJ. B. CLAUTICE,

M. F. BOYLE. 

